Turkey-PKK clashes spark wildfire in northern Duhok
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Clashes between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Duhok province on Sunday sparked a wildfire that is threatening several villages in the area, sources told Rudaw.
A number of residents from Alkishke village, located in northern Duhok’s Barwari Bala region, told Rudaw that they heard a “loud blast” due to clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK near their village, and a fire followed shortly after.
Some villagers remain stranded and are calling for help, with the fire having yet to be controlled, and several are suffering shortness of breath.
No casualties have been reported, but the village cemetery has been burned, according to locals.
Turkey began intensifying its decades-long war against the PKK, especially in Duhok province, in mid-June after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly said he would launch a new offensive this summer. Ankara has deployed hundreds of troops to the province.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades in the struggle for greater Kurdish rights and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Recent Turkish bombardments have also caused wildfires in Duhok province. Turkey and the PKK blame each other for the many blazes.
Turkish military operations in the Kurdistan Region have killed 344 civilians since they began over three decades ago, the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based conflict monitor, said in a report earlier in August.
A number of residents from Alkishke village, located in northern Duhok’s Barwari Bala region, told Rudaw that they heard a “loud blast” due to clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK near their village, and a fire followed shortly after.
Some villagers remain stranded and are calling for help, with the fire having yet to be controlled, and several are suffering shortness of breath.
No casualties have been reported, but the village cemetery has been burned, according to locals.
Turkey began intensifying its decades-long war against the PKK, especially in Duhok province, in mid-June after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly said he would launch a new offensive this summer. Ankara has deployed hundreds of troops to the province.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades in the struggle for greater Kurdish rights and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Recent Turkish bombardments have also caused wildfires in Duhok province. Turkey and the PKK blame each other for the many blazes.
Turkish military operations in the Kurdistan Region have killed 344 civilians since they began over three decades ago, the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based conflict monitor, said in a report earlier in August.